A Tale of Merlin Whump
by Neverlady
Summary: The title says it all, really. Plenty of Bromance as well. All of the good stuff. I have a sequel planned which I won't be able to write until I get back from overseas in January. Until then I hope you guys enjoy this part of the story!
1. A Hunting Trip to Remember

This is meant to be the beginning of a whole story I have figured out but I never seem to be able to find the time to write. So I thought I would post this, even if I don't get around to writing the whole thing, because I think it can stand on its own. I hope you enjoy my first ever attempt at fanfiction and I would love to hear what you think!

* * *

"Merlin!" The angry cries of the King of Camelot echoed around the courtyard of the castle while the man himself sat impatiently upon his horse.

"Coming, coming" was the hurried reply of his hassled servant as he raced down the steps from the castle, arms laden with food.

"What is that?" Arthur asked with the usual sarcastic tone he used when addressing his best friend.

"Food. What does it look like?" Merlin replied with his face falling into its typical perplexed look as he tried packing it all into his horse's saddle bag with great difficulty.

"Yes, I can see that, but we're going on a hunting trip not to a feast." Arthur was starting to enjoy himself by this point.

"Yes, well, I know what you're like when you're hungry and there's no guarantee you'll catch anything." Merlin jibed as he climbed onto the back of his horse after finally squeezing all of the food into his bag.

Arthur guffawed at this as they started to trot across the courtyard. "I've never failed to catch _something_" He stated with a hint of pride.

"Hmm, but it has been a while hasn't it, what with all of the rebuilding which had to be done after the wedding. Maybe it's been _too _long?" Merlin turned a cheeky grin to his master while the king supressed one.

"Merlin?"

"Mmm?"

"Shut up."

And with that they cantered off into the woods, both already thoroughly enjoying their first time out together in quite some time.

* * *

Merlin cringed as the loud crack resounded around the forest, scaring off the deer Arthur had been stalking. Arthur spun around as they both looked down at the offending foot which had snapped the stick.

"Sorry?" Merlin hesitantly offered, knowing it wasn't enough to make up for the king's anger.

"Sorry? You are such an oaf, Merlin! That is the _sixth _animal you have scared off in the last few hours! You know, it's a good thing you brought all that food or _you_ might be for dinner instead!" Arthur thundered, poking a finger with ferocity at Merlin's chest.

"Now that sounds like a plan." An unfamiliar voice alarmed both young men as they spun around to find its source.

Whilst Arthur had been yelling, they had been surrounded. There were at least fifteen men, bandits, judging by their clothing and bad hygiene. The person who had spoken was a skinny man who was missing a large number of teeth. His shoulder length hair might have been blonde but was so mattered and dirty that it was anyone's guess really.

Arthur dropped his crossbow and grabbed for his sword. All fifteen men raised their swords in response, the sound of the metal reverberating through the forest. Arthur paused, obviously weighing up his options.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The skinny man, who also seemed to be their leader, swaggered forwards. "Even if you were able to fight your way out, your unarmed little meal here might not be so lucky. Though, in all honestly, there isn't very much meat on him, is there." He trailed off, looking Merlin up and down with his head cocked to one side, as though seriously considering taking up Arthur's previous threat.

Arthur saw the truth in his words and, not for the first time, mentally kicked himself for not making Merlin carry a weapon. Arthur raised his hands above his head.

"Please, I'll go with you willingly if you will only let my friend go." Arthur said in his most kingly voice. Merlin was quietly observing the scene, trying to find a way to use his magic without Arthur seeing, but as he was directly in between the group's leader and Arthur, that didn't seem likely. Arthur saw Merlin's eyes flicking about and felt very sorry that his friend should have to go through such fear.

"Now, why would I want to do that? You look like a solid, strong young man and would surely make a good slave. Your friend here may not be so strong but I know people who will buy him to satisfy other needs." The men around them snickered as their leader continued "Why would I want to sell one slave when I could sell two?"

It was then that Arthur and Merlin exchanged knowing looks. These men didn't know who Arthur was. He was not wearing his chainmail or Camelot cape because a hunting trip did not classify as official Camelot business.

Suddenly, the leader struck Merlin in the head with the hilt of his sword sending him sprawling across the forest floor, unconscious. Neither of the two boys noticed his growing nearness while plots and schemes twirled in their heads due to their new revelation.

"Hey!" Arthur called out, moving forwards to Merlin's aid when no less than five men held him down and tied his hands in front of him. They took his sword and patted him down, removing the two knives they found hidden on his body. Arthur tried to keep his eyes on Merlin and saw them tie him up the same way.

As Merlin came to his vision came in throbs along with the pounding of his head. He managed to figure out that Arthur was awake and could fully see him, restricting his ability to use magic. When Arthur saw that Merlin was awake, a small feeling of relief flittered through his body only to be driven out by logic. It was a distraction, and it had worked.

Once they had been properly secured, the leader stood before them.

"Now, you are going to come with us on a little trip. My name is Aiden and I will be your guide. You will do what I say, when I say it, or there will be consequences. You will not be putting your own life in danger but that of your _friend_." He paused to allow his threat to have its full effect while Arthur and Merlin sent concerned looks to each other out of the corners of their eyes.

"Any questions or queries?" Aiden smiled with mock politeness. Arthur and Merlin remained quiet, knowing it would do no good to infuriate a man with so many men on his side.

"Good" He clapped his hands together and spun on his heal, "let's be off then."

Arthur and Merlin were picked up and marched onwards, well at least Arthur was. Merlin was in no state to march anywhere and his feet dragged across the frozen ground as the two men leading him all but carried him by his upper arms.

"Wait!" Arthur called. Aiden froze so suddenly the man behind him almost ran into him. He turned around very slowly, with his head down and walked towards Arthur, never raising his head.

"What. Did you say?" He asked, his voice like ice.

"My friend, can't we, I don't know, make him a stretcher or something."

Silence filled the air for a moment before a deep, quiet laugh escaped from Aiden's lips. Everyone looked at each other sceptically until Aiden burst out into hysterics.

"A stretcher!" He choked out between gasps. All of his men joined in his laughter and Arthur managed a few awkward chuckles, not really knowing what was so funny. Merlin just remained impassive, trying to ignore the way the loud laughter made his head throb.

"You know," began Aiden, finally calming down from his fit of laughter, "you're never going to be sold as a slave if you talk to your superiors without being spoken to first." He spoke as if to a child. "Now I'm afraid I must punish you."

This caught Merlin's attention away from his pounding head as he yelled out,

"No!"

"It's alright Merlin." Arthur reassured him "I can take anything he throws at me." Arthur braced himself as Aiden suddenly turned, grabbed Merlin and threw him through a sheet of ice which was covering a stream nearby.

"Merlin!" Arthur yelled out.

"Better go and save him then." Aiden said through quiet laughter.

Arthur ran towards the stream, which luckily was not very deep or wide. He could see Merlin, his head mostly above the water as it bobbed up and down. Arthur waded in up to his knees and found the stream was shallower than he thought; Merlin mustn't have been able to put any weight on his legs. Arthur grabbed Merlin's arms and dragged him onto land. He tried to take off his jacket to give to his friend but his ties made it impossible.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Arthur demanded with as much authority as he could muster with his teeth chattering so profusely.

"I told you, if one of you does the wrong thing, the other is punished. I hope you learned a valuable lesson here today. You will need to learn these things if you want to be a good slave." And with that he walked ahead as if nothing more exciting than lunch had just occurred.

* * *

Merlin was trying to think, he really was, but he was so cold and his head hurt so much that thinking was almost as hard as walking had suddenly become. He could see Arthur just ahead, trying to turn back every so often to see how he was going. Merlin managed to close his eyes and muster up some instinctual magic which helped to warm him up slightly. He was still very cold, but he no longer thought he need worry about dying from it. He tried to assess how Arthur was and decided he looked cold too, but otherwise okay. It was getting dark and with the dark came colder temperatures. Merlin knew he and Arthur would need to figure out some way of not freezing to death if it got much colder. Of course if it got that dire Merlin could just use his magic, but he would rather it didn't come to that.

The group of men slowed down as they entered their camp. It was nothing more than a fire in the middle of a small clearing, obviously not a permanent settlement.

"We'll rest here tonight," Aiden called out, "And tomorrow we'll make for the slave traders." Merlin saw Aiden mutter something to some of his men and Merlin and Arthur were shown over to the base of a wide tree where they were tied for the night. Merlin realised that they would barely feel the fire, though any slight amount of warmth could be the difference between life and death.

* * *

As the men got settled around the fire, which had managed to slightly warm up Merlin's toes, Arthur turned to Merlin.

"Are you okay?" Arthur asked looking concerned for his friend.

"Yeah, I've got a bit of a headache but as long as this fire keeps warming up my toes, I'll be fine." Merlin joked, giving Arthur a reassuring smile. "You?"

"Me? Why do you care if I'm okay, if it wasn't for me none of this would have happened. If I hadn't been yelling, they wouldn't have sneaked up on us."

"Yeah, but if I hadn't made you mad then you wouldn't have been yelling." Merlin cut in, making Arthur sigh in annoyance.

"Maybe, but if I hadn't spoken out of turn you wouldn't have been thrown in that stream."

"But if I hadn't been knocked to the head, I would have been able to get myself out of the stream and you wouldn't have had to go in after me." Merlin retorted, making Arthur shake his head.

"Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

This exchanged cheered them both up and they felt much better for it, but they both realised they were shaking.

"You do realise we can't let ourselves fall asleep." Arthur knowledgeably informed the already informed Merlin.

"Ouch!" Yelped Arthur as Merlin pinched his leg. "What was that for?"

"I'm making sure you don't fall asleep." Merlin responded, as though it was obvious, wincing as Arthur returned the favour. It was going to be a long night.


	2. Live Alone, Die Together

When Arthur awoke it took him a few seconds to remember the events of the previous day, but when he did his eyes snapped open, looking down at the still form of his friend.

"Merlin!" Arthur hoarsely choked out.

"Wasit?" Merlin muttered, jerking his head up off Arthur's shoulder and looking confusedly around.

"You fell asleep." Arthur uttered through his sigh of relief, but still managing to sound greatly annoyed. He failed to mention he had drifted off also.

"Yeah, well, you let me." Merlin replied, wiping off the frost which had settled on his shoulders. This rattled Arthur, Merlin had a point.

"Can you still feel all of your little fingers and toes?" Arthur mockingly asked Merlin with a voice like a child; trying to remember at which point he had allowed Merlin to fall asleep.

Merlin stretched experimentally, leaving Arthur to surreptitiously do so as well. They both felt pain shoot through their fingers and toes, like extreme pins and needles, as the blood and feeling returned to them.

"Looks like it". Merlin muttered, ignoring the pain. He was distracted when he saw that all of the Bandits looked like they had been awake for a while and were ready to take off.

Arthur followed Merlin's eye line and took note of their imminent departure.

"Listen, Merlin, we can't let them find out who I am. You can't call me Arthur or sire or anything that could give them a hint."

"Sure, Dollophead" Merlin grinned cheekily at Arthur.

"Merlin, I'm serious. We don't have much time; they'll be over to get us in a minute. Just call me whatever comes to mind and _not _anything you have made up." Arthur gave Merlin a stern look, making Merlin's smile fade. Merlin gave Arthur a nod to show he understood and the next moment Aiden had approached them with a few of his men.

"Good morning. I hope you slept well." He taunted, giving their tree and the ice crystals which had settled on their clothes a quick look over.

"Thought I might wake to find you both frozen to death, might have lost some money but I would soon find another miserable fool to sell." He spoke as though to himself while Merlin hoped no one found it too suspicious that they were okay. They didn't even have any frostbite. Merlin had been using his instinctual magic as often as he could while Arthur wasn't looking. He couldn't do anything too spectacular without saying a spell, but he kept them alive.

Four men were hovering around, untying the two boys. When they were pulled to their feet they almost fell over, their legs were so stiff. They were guided forwards, two guards on each man. As they started to shuffle their feet like a pair of zombies, the feeling slowly started to return and, along with it, those extreme pins and needles.

After the pain had subsided, Arthur, having more of his wits about him today, was observing the group of men trying to think of anything which could get them out of this. Of course, it was a lot harder with Merlin to look after. Arthur eyed Merlin who was right in front of him and couldn't help at that moment wishing he had been captured alone.

Meanwhile, Merlin was desperately wishing Arthur wasn't right behind him observing his every move. It made it much harder to perform any worthwhile magic if he couldn't use spells. If it weren't for Arthur, Merlin would have these men unconscious and be on his way back home to Camelot with a flash of his eyes and a few well-chosen words.

Merlin glanced back at Arthur. He was looking around at the bandits as though assessing them. He was still too close for Merlin to say any spells but Merlin took the opportunity. He looked ahead and found Aiden. Looking up, his eyes shone gold and a branch the size of Percival's arm fell from above Aiden's head. Aiden jumped backwards just in time as the branch crashed to the ground, missing his toes by mere inches.

Aiden swung around faster than Merlin had ever seen any man do so, it was almost comical. Almost. He marched towards Merlin and Arthur, fuming.

"This is your fault!" he spat, glaring at them as though waiting for an admission.

"_Our _fault?" Arthur replied disbelievingly. "How could a branch falling up there have anything to do with us back here?"

"Don't be smart with _me_." Aiden hissed. He turned and punched Merlin in the gut. Merlin doubled over, coughing.

Merlin glanced up and saw the agitation in Arthur's eyes, he so desperately wanted to be able to say something but it would only get Merlin injured even more.

"It's okay Ar… Bradley. I'm fine." Merlin reassured Arthur as Aiden stormed back to the front of the group, obviously realising that they couldn't have actually had anything to do with the falling branch.

Arthur gave Merlin a look that clearly showed what he thought of the ridiculous name he had come up with before they were marched forwards yet again.

* * *

A few hours passed, with both boys puzzling over the fact that if it weren't for the other they could have escaped by now, before they reached a dilapidated old castle. It was small and was probably never a grand place. They marched straight in, past the guards. Aiden was obviously well known to these people. Aiden led Arthur, Merlin and their guards towards a big oak door. Aiden stopped and turned to the two boys.

"You", Aiden whispered to Arthur, obviously not wanting the guards standing outside the door to hear him. "_I_ know you have problems with keeping your mouth shut, but Barabbas does not. I am going to get a lot more money for _good _slaves, so keep your mouth shut. If you don't I'll convince him that your skinny little friend here is useless and that he should be killed."

Arthur seemed sceptical of Aiden's ability to do such a thing, especially as he would lose any profit from selling Merlin if he did, but he thought it best to do what he was told for now. Once he was sold it would probably be much easier to escape. He just hoped Merlin was sold with him, even though that was almost impossible. He shuddered to think what would happen if they were separated, he would probably never find Merlin again and Merlin was rubbish at looking after himself.

Merlin was thinking along the same lines about Arthur as they were shown through the big oak doors. Behind them was what looked like a poor excuse for a throne room, with a raised area at the front and a seat positioned right in the middle of said area. Sat on the seat was a huge bald man, who looked like a walrus, who must have been Barabbas.

As they entered, Barabbas' eyes lingered on Arthur, making both boys uncomfortable. What if he recognised him? Barabbas, however, stayed quiet. Around the room were no less than five guards, giving the boys some idea of how heavily protected this place must be.

"Aiden. What have you brought me today? I hope they're in better condition than the last boy you brought me, missing half of his fingers with frostbite". Barabbas' voice was huge, echoing around the room. He was quite an intimidating figure.

"Yes sir, these two would make fantastic slaves" Aiden gushed, obviously nervous. He stepped towards Arthur first. "This one is in fantastic health and is very strong. He has a good temperament and would sell to practically anyone."

Arthur felt like a horse being sold, but didn't let his pride get in the way, he had to bide his time. Barabbas eyed Arthur with suspicion, but remained silent as Aiden continued with his sales pitch.

"This one," Aiden had moved onto Merlin and was speaking with much less fervour, "well, he's not as strong as that one but I think he could sell to the right buyer for a pretty penny". He looked up at Barabbas expectantly, visibly very proud of himself.

"I'll give you five gold pieces". Barabbas said unemotionally.

"Five… but sir, they, um" He failed under Barabbas' glare. "Five each is very generous, thank you". He finished with obvious bitterness in his tone.

"Each? You misunderstand. I meant for both of them" Barabbas clarified. Aiden looked like a child who had just lost his favourite toy. Barabbas held out a pouch with the money and Aiden grabbed it and skulked out of the room. Barabbas sat patiently, watching Aiden until the oak doors slammed shut behind him.

"Now" Barabbas stood and walked with authority over to Arthur and Merlin "Let me look at what I've really got" He stopped in front of Arthur, staring directly into his eyes. "The king of Camelot" It wasn't a question, he knew. Merlin felt a weight drop in his stomach.

"If you knew who I was, why didn't you say anything before?" Arthur queried.

"Ha. Then I would have had to have given that whimpering fool a lot more than five gold pieces!" Barabbas' brief tone of humour was gone in an instant while he and Arthur continued to glare at each other, sizing the other up, Merlin all but forgotten about.

"If you let me go I will not come back here with my knights to punish you for trading slaves" Arthur decreed in his most kingly voice.

"But then how will I make up my five gold pieces? Oh no, I think I know the perfect person to sell you to. I am going to be a very rich man". His vision became unfocused as he licked his lips in anticipation of his imminent riches.

Arthur saw no point in taking his negotiating any further, so he remained quiet. However it was not lost on either of the two young men that if Barabbas was content to let Arthur's offer go, he was fairly confident of Arthur never returning to Camelot. Barabbas moved onto Merlin, with much less enthusiasm.

"You, of course, are not royalty nor do you look particularly strong but I pride myself as a man who can sell anything. I'm guessing I could get more than double what I spent on you if I use the right angle" His head, like Aiden's the previous day, was tilted to the side, assessing Merlin like a piece of meat.

The worry which had been growing inside Merlin since the previous day had reached an agonising point. Unable to openly use his magic he was almost useless and now Arthur was in real danger from a man who seemed a lot more threatening than Aiden. The reality of what was happening was beginning to overwhelm him. He had to stay with Arthur, to protect him in any way he could.

"You won't sell me!" Merlin yelled at Barabbas' retreating back. Barabbas turned with an amused look on his face while Arthur gave Merlin that all too familiar look as though Merlin had gone mad.

"And why is that?" Barabbas asked with humour in his voice.

"I'm only loyal to the King. I will refuse to serve anyone else. I will be bad tempered and disobedient. I'll talk back and be impossible to handle." Merlin sprouted, desperate not to be sold away from Arthur.

"No different than usual then" Arthur muttered.

"We'll see" Barabbas answered Merlin's threat in a light tone before yelling to the men in the room, "Contact Liam, tell him who we've got" and then he stormed from the room.

A group of men descended on Merlin and Arthur as though from nowhere. They were much more efficient than Aiden's men, marching Merlin and Arthur through the castle with expertise. Arthur didn't even know you could be good at marching people around.

They were unceremoniously thrown into a large cell with at least ten other people. It smelt like faeces and urine and some of the inhabitants looked as though they had lived there for years.

"Turn around" one of the guards ordered. They then proceeded to cut the ropes from their wrists through the bars before leaving them to their new surroundings.

"What on earth were you thinking back there?" Arthur berated Merlin after they had finished checking the extent of the damage done to their raw wrists.

"I don't know. I don't want to separated from you. Besides, I meant it."

"What? That you're a useless servant?" Arthur joked.

"No, I'll never serve anyone other than you Arthur" Merlin looked at Arthur with his wise face which always put Arthur off guard.

"You're a good friend Merlin, the most loyal friend I've ever had" and Arthur meant every word he said too. Arthur gave Merlin's hair a rough tousle as they turned to take in their new surroundings. It was then that they realised how lucky they were to have been captured together and wouldn't have it any other way, even if they were both likely to die.

* * *

I know the name I had Merlin call Arthur isn't very inventive but I thought it was funny, so there you go. :P

Thank you everyone for all of your amazing feedback to the first chapter. The people who favourited, followed and reviewed. If it wasn't for all of you I definitely wouldn't have this chapter up so quickly! I hope you enjoyed this one too.

And yes, Lost fan here for those of you who recognise the chapter title's spin on a Lost quote.


	3. Of Thirst and Hunger

Merlin and Arthur had picked their way to a far corner of the dungeon and were huddled there, avoiding eye contact with the other soon to be slaves. Half of them seemed to have been there a while, unable to be sold. They stood out because they, quite honestly, were scary. They had that undefinable air of being people to avoid. Arthur supposed that was why they were not yet sold. Maybe it was a tactic, though why anyone would want to stay here was beyond him. The others looked new, scared, probably how Merlin and Arthur looked.

Merlin, unlike Arthur, hadn't done much observing since they found their corner. He felt too awful. The biggest thing on his mind was his thirst. Neither of them had had anything to drink since the previous morning, two whole days ago. Merlin's head was aching even worse than when he had been hit with the hilt of Aiden's sword. He felt weak and almost like throwing up. He was hungry too, but if he was currently faced with a choice between a ham or a glass of water, he'd pick the water.

Arthur didn't feel too good either, but he'd been trained how do deal with torture and part of that included how to handle being deprived of food and water. Arthur noticed Merlin lean his head against the wall and turned to look at him more closely. He was so pale he was almost translucent and he was shaking ever so slightly.

"It's a lot warmer here than where we were last night" observed Arthur, trying to distract Merlin from whatever it was that was making him so sickly. It was cold in the cell, but nowhere near as cold as it was last night. The guards outside the bars had torches and the thick walls did their part to ease the freezing winter temperatures.

"Hmm" Merlin replied, trying not to move his head too much by talking.

Arthur looked around, thinking. He wasn't good at trying to cheer Merlin up.

"I'm sure everything's going to be fine" Arthur had settled on reassurement, who didn't love to be reassured? Merlin nodded his head, though the gesture was so small that Arthur didn't see it. All Arthur saw were Merlin's eyes clouding over. Oh no, thought Arthur, I've made him cry.

But Merlin wasn't crying, he was thinking, trying to figure out a way to make everything fine again. However it isn't easy trying to scheme when a timpani has taken up residence in your head.

Arthur realised Merlin, thankfully, hadn't started crying. This, however, didn't seem to make Arthur feel much better. He hated when Merlin was upset, it just wasn't right. Merlin was meant to be a smiling, loyal, idiot.

Mercifully, at that moment a small opening in the cell door was creaked open by a guard who pushed a pail of water and some cups into the dungeon.

Merlin knew he should drink, but suddenly the thought of putting anything in his stomach nauseated him. Besides, Merlin didn't think moving was such a great idea right now.

"Great! Water" Arthur said, standing up to go and get a cup. When Arthur had stood up he looked around at eye level, expecting Merlin to be there, and finally his eyes travelled down to where Merlin was curled, unmoving against the wall.

"Come on, aren't you thirsty?" Arthur was just as unobservant as always.

"Could you get me some?" Merlin managed to choke out through his dry throat and mouth.

Arthur was tempted to look offended at being told to do something by his servant, years of Uther's influence he guessed. But Arthur had finally realised what was wrong with Merlin and felt ashamed for not realising it earlier. Merlin shouldn't have had to ask.

Arthur hurried over and brought back two cups full to the brim with water. Before Arthur allowed Merlin to drink he warned,

"I know you'll want to down this in one, but you have to drink it slowly" Merlin looked annoyed with Arthur for not just giving him the cup, he was the physicians ward, of course he knew that! However, when Arthur handed Merlin the cup and the first drop hit his tongue he almost spat it out. Merlin felt so sick at the thought of drinking the water his stomach heaved and he almost threw up. Merlin slowly forced himself to drink the water and the more he drank, the more ravenous he became. Each gulp caused Merlin's head to throb, but he didn't care. As it was, drinking the water slowly became almost agonising, he so badly just wanted to down it in one.

Arthur watched Merlin carefully the entire time, knowing exactly what was happening inside his friends head, unbeknownst to him, for the first time. When Merlin had finished he looked much better. More colour had returned to his cheeks and he had stopped shaking. It also didn't look like his head needed the wall for support any longer.

"Would you like some more?" Arthur asked with concern. Merlin looked slightly taken aback at being waited on by his master, but mostly grateful to have such an attentive friend by his side.

"I don't know, is there enough?" Merlin replied, glancing over as a group of the scary prisoners started gathering around the remnants of the pail, glaring at each other.

"There is for me" and with that Arthur stood up and marched over to the group around the pail with such authority that they scattered away from him. He scooped up the pail and headed straight back to Merlin, leaving everyone to wonder what exactly had just happened.

"You do realise they hate you now" Merlin muttered with an impressed smile on his face.

"I don't care" replied Arthur, handing Merlin the pail "Besides, they weren't actually drinking the water, they were just hovering around it like a murder of crows". Merlin tipped up the pail and drank the last dregs with a smile on his face.

Now having had their thirst quenched, both boys realised just how tired they were. Arthur was getting stared daggers by the hoverers and Merlin was getting his fair share too from drinking the water Arthur had taken, however neither of them felt particularly threatened. Despite having world class death glares, the murder of crows didn't seem particularly threatening, especially with a couple of guards outside who didn't want to see potential profits damaged.

So Arthur and Merlin leaned in on each other and fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Merlin awoke with a plan fully formed in his head; well it was sort of a plan. Merlin knew Barabbas had a specific buyer in mind for Arthur, so all Merlin had to do was be as awful as possible to avoid being sold until this buyer showed up. He would then act like the perfect slave and then perhaps they would both be sold together. It was a long shot, but it was all Merlin could come up with without exposing his magic.

Arthur's mind too seemed to have been thinking while he rested. His plan was simply to request Merlin be a part of whatever deal was struck in relation to Arthur. It seemed Arthur was not quite as pessimistic as Merlin, he just assumed no one would buy Merlin before then; he was an awful servant. He had also never found it difficult to negotiate deals, so he was quite confident.

With this new found optimism about their situation, Arthur suddenly found himself more hungry than he could ever remember being. He looked towards the small flap in the door where the guards had delivered the water earlier and found a platter with apple cores and banana skins decorating its surface. Arthur felt his empty stomach drop; they had missed the food while they had been sleeping.

"Damn it!" Arthur muttered, punching the wall beside him. He regretted it instantly; the rough stone had made his knuckles begin to bleed. Arthur knew he was lucky not to have broken his hand. He felt extremely foolish.

"Woah!" Merlin exclaimed in surprise at his friend's sudden outburst. "See. I told you that you get grumpy when you haven't eaten" Merlin stated, annoying Arthur even further.

"Shut up Merlin. I'm in no mood for jokes" Arthur grumpily replied.

"Yes, I can see that, but really; what did that wall do that was so bad as to make you hit it?" Merlin teased, knowing that at any minute Arthur would have a sudden urge to throw something at him. Merlin knew exactly how to cheer Arthur up.

Arthur's face was screwed up in a mixture of annoyance and an attempt not to laugh as he lightly whacked Merlin around the ears, careful to avoid the spot he knew Aiden had hit with his sword.

As Merlin rubbed his head with a goofy grin spread across his face, everyone in the dungeon suddenly looked up as the sound of gates opening and many men approaching met their ears.

The two boys got to their feet as Barabbas and about twenty of his men came to a stop outside their cell door.

"Okay, you know the drill" Barabbas' voice echoed around the cell walls "Stand with your hands against the back wall". Everyone moved as instructed, Arthur and Merlin too. The cell door opened and they heard the men enter with what sounded like chains. Sure enough, the next thing they saw was one of the men reach forward and clamp manacles around their wrists. They were all connected by a long chain.

They were then marched out of the cell, shuffling due to the restricted movement of all being connected as they were; one in front of the other. They ended up back in the same throne room like space Arthur and Merlin had been in the previous day, however this time it was filled with people. Some of them looked very rich and luxurious, wearing silk and bright colours; while others looked mean and dangerous, wearing leather and shades of black.

The line of prisoners was positioned at the front of the room, so that the potential customers could assess what was currently on offer and compare. Merlin thought it would be like some kind of auction where each servant was put up for bid, one at a time; however he suddenly noticed that Barabbas was starting to show up a wealthy looking crone of a woman, dressed in a very elegant looking red gown.

"Now, Lady Penelope, we have many fine specimens today. Are you looking for anything in particular?" Barabbas spoke like a professional salesman.

"I was just looking for a nice young man to do some light jobs around the place" she croaked out "A bit of cooking, cleaning, nothing too difficult". Her eyes had settled on Merlin. Arthur started to panic, he hadn't thought _anyone_ would give Merlin a second look but the first customer looked interested.

At that moment Merlin let out a huge belch. Everyone in the room turned to look at the source of the sound to which Merlin replied.

"What? You thought that was impressive? You're easily impressed aren't you? You bunch of wealthy pigs should be used to that sort of thing, surely?" Arthur was completely taken aback, but nothing like the woman who had been assessing Merlin. She looked as though someone had personally offended her mother, though if her mother was still alive it would be something of a miracle. Arthur finally understood what Merlin was trying to do.

"Oh my!" she gasped, turning to Barabbas "You do need to try and train them a bit before you try selling them" She lectured before turning to leave the room, not having purchased a single slave. Barabbas glared at Merlin before moving on.

Merlin continued to offend, disgust and simply become the most appalling purchase for the next half an hour, ensuring that he was not sold to a single soul. Even some of the prisoners who looked like they had been there forever were sold rather than Merlin. Arthur, of course, was "on hold" as Barabbas put it.

The next man to be shown to the stage by Barabbas had been up the back since they had entered the room. He stood out not only due to his height, muscles which could put Percival to shame and skin tight leather clothing, but he was also incredibly handsome. Even the men in the room seemed captivated by him, even if it was just out of jealousy.

Barabbas seemed particularly interested in pleasing this customer as he turned up the sales charm and welcomed his friend warmly.

"So, Liam, you've seen everything you wanted?" Barabbas asked. The man had obviously been up the back observing the slaves.

"Yeah, now let me get my hands on this little king" The man's deep voice seemed to stab Merlin right in the gut. He had intended to act the perfect slave for this man, to be sold with Arthur, but the man had been standing up the back the entire time. There was no way they would be sold together.

* * *

Didn't really intend on ending the chapter right there but it was threatening to become a monster chapter! :P

Again, thank you so much to everyone who has favourited, followed and reviewed. It leaves me grinning from ear to ear and motivates me to write even more. I honestly didn't think I would have the time to write a second chapter and here is chapter three less than a week later! It's all because of you guys so keep it up! :)


	4. A Whole New Ball Game

Arthur's mind had just turned to mud. His thoughts were coming slowly and dully as he realised that trying to negotiate a deal which involved Merlin, after everything this Liam had seen, would be nearly impossible. But Arthur was never one to let the impossible stop him before, after all it was he who had pulled a sword from solid stone.

As Arthur's brain slowly started to re-join the normal pace of reality he realised that Barabbas and Liam were right in the middle of talks about how much he was worth.

"I'm offering you fifty gold pieces Barabbas, nothing more"

"But really Liam, he's _the king_! Surely he's worth more in the area of one hundred pieces of gold?"

"Barabbas, you know why I want the king. I don't have unlimited amounts of gold, but I do have the means to utterly destroy anyone who gets in my way" The threat was very real and hung in the air between the two men as Liam stared Barabbas down.

"Excuse me" Arthur politely interjected through the thick air of confrontation. Liam turned to Arthur with a smile on his face, seemingly amused by the young king.

"Yes little king?" Liam replied with sarcasm. He obviously didn't think very much of Arthur, but it seemed to be more disdain than hatred.

"I know that I will be leaving with you today, that is not in question" Arthur paused to make sure Liam was really listening to his proposal.

"Go on" Liam replied sounding slightly intrigued, like an adult who was humouring a child.

"What is in question is how I will behave for you. I give you my word that I will be the very picture of obedience if you will also include my friend Merlin here" Arthur gestured to where Merlin stood awkwardly by his side, shuffling his feet, causing Liam to raise his eyebrow "in whatever deal you make".

Liam was smiling, obviously finding the situation and the king's attachment to his friend mildly amusing.

"You know, if you knew my reputation I highly doubt you would be so eager to make such an offer" Liam questioned, as though trying to persuade Arthur to retract his offer. Arthur stood his ground, keeping eye contact with the intimidating man. After a few seconds of thought Liam turned to Barabbas and said,

"Fine. Barabbas, I would also like to include that other boy, _Merlin_, in the deal. I will give you one hundred gold pieces" Barabbas, who was obviously just trying to drive up the price before, almost skipped as he eagerly accepted Liam's offer.

Merlin was feeling the strangest mixture of relief and fear as they were unchained from the manacles. He would be staying with Arthur, something which he had given up as a near impossibility, but the way Liam talked about his 'reputation' scared Merlin more than he cared to admit, even to himself.

Arthur was also relieved. As Liam summoned someone to come and tie the two boys' hands in rope Arthur knew he would almost certainly be able to escape now. Liam didn't seem to have anywhere near as many men as Aiden or Barabbas and even all those muscles didn't guarantee Liam to win in a fight against a swordsman like Arthur.

Liam and his acquaintance, who was leading the new purchases, were escorted to their horses outside by some of Barabbas' men. Arthur was looking at the acquaintance's sword just in front of him. It was going to be so easy to grab it once they were away from here. When they got to the horses Arthur saw that they were drawing a cage, obviously intended for them. Barabbas' guards weren't leaving and Arthur saw his chances of escaping suddenly diminishing.

He had to make a move.

Arthur lunged forwards and grabbed the man's sword, hands still tied, and plunged it straight into the man's heart. He swung around to continue fighting when a huge fist filled his vision and everything went black.

Merlin watched as Liam punched Arthur, sending him crumpling to the ground. He let out a yell of indignation as they were hauled into the cage and locked in. It was then that Merlin realised that with Arthur unconscious he could finally get them out of here.

"Onlúcan" Merlin muttered, hand extended to the lock of the door, as his eyes burned gold. Nothing happened. Merlin glanced around at Liam as he gave orders to move out, making sure he hadn't done something to block Merlin's magic, but he didn't seem to have noticed Merlin doing anything suspicious.

Merlin breathed out slowly through his nose, trying to calm himself, to concentrate. However, that was the moment Arthur decided to regain consciousness. Merlin cursed to himself before rushing over to check on his friend.

"Are you okay?" Merlin asked, noticing the bruises starting to form around Arthur's left eye.

"What happened?" Arthur seemed confused, glancing around as though not knowing what was happening.

"You tried to escape and Liam punched you in the face," Merlin answered Arthur's question bluntly. Arthur cringed as though in pain, but he was really just embarrassed at the memory, everything had come back to him now.

"I'm fine Merlin," Arthur slowly started to sit up and was able to see that other than Liam there was only two other men. Arthur was relived for a moment before he remembered he was locked in a cage. He reassured himself with the idea that there would be plenty of other opportunities for escape with so few men to defeat.

Merlin on the other hand felt a strange sense of being drained of energy. He must have been hungrier than he thought. Having now established that Arthur was indeed fine, Merlin slumped down and leaned against the bars puzzling over why his spell hadn't worked. Perhaps he just hadn't used his magic in so long, and was so hungry that he needed to warm it up a bit. However, with Arthur now conscious the ability to practice was gone yet again. Merlin made a mental note to himself that the next time Arthur went to sleep he would use his magic to help them escape.

* * *

A few hours later they neared a grand house. It wasn't a castle or a palace but it was still huge and obviously expensive. Arthur thought back to Liam saying that he didn't have unlimited amounts of gold, it sure didn't look that way to him. They didn't go through the huge gates towards the house but rather around the outside of the walls towards the back of the property. They pulled up at a smaller building a few yards from the wall at the back of the property. A small gate showed another way into the estate.

Liam jumped off his horse and strolled up to the cage. He gave Arthur a small smile before pulling a knife swiftly from his boot and holding to Merlin's throat. Arthur made to move towards Merlin but Liam smirked,

"I want you to allow my friend here," he motioned to one of the men who was travelling with him, "to escort you out of this cage and into another. If you are not obedient, as you had promised you would be, I will slit your little friend's throat and let him drown on his own blood." It wasn't an empty threat, in fact Arthur had the feeling Liam would actually enjoy killing Merlin. So Arthur did as he was told, hating not having any control over the situation yet again.

Merlin was desperately trying to perform some subtle magic. With his eyes closed he was willing Liam's knife to burn red, for Arthur's ropes to fall off, for _anything_ to happen, but his magic just wasn't cooperating. Merlin opened his eyes and found Arthur being led into the small building. Liam had moved around to the door of the cage and was looking expectantly at Merlin,

"Aren't you coming?" He asked exasperatingly. Merlin got up and allowed Liam's other man to escort him into the building behind Arthur. Inside the building was a singular room with a huge fireplace at one end and a cell at the other, where Arthur was currently fuming. Merlin was thrown in after him and the door slammed shut with a bang.

Liam sauntered in as his two men took seats around a small table near the fire. He stood in front of the cell and took in his two new possessions.

"I suppose you're wondering why I was so interested in procuring you, King Arthur," Arthur glared at Liam, waiting for his curiosity to be satisfied.

"Emrys" was Liam's simple response. Arthur's face furrowed in concentration, that name sounded vaguely familiar. Merlin's face on the other hand fell into a stony, unreadable expression.

Arthur suddenly remembered Morgana mentioning Emrys during their last encounter.

"You're in league with Morgana," Arthur stated as though he had known all along.

"Well, not really "in league" but yes, she is involved," Arthur shook his head, running a hand through his hair at the more serious turn their position had taken.

"What about this 'Emrys'?" Arthur asked, trying to maintain his composure.

"I need you to tell me everything you know about him, most importantly where Morgana can find him." Liam stared patiently at Arthur, waiting for him to respond.

"You're asking the wrong person, I have no idea who Emrys _is _let alone where to find him" Arthur responded with exasperation.

"I find that hard to believe. Morgana told me all about the two of you. Imagine the King of Camelot being in league with a sorcerer."

Arthur was openly gawking now, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"You're mad! You are obviously wasting your time because I cannot help you." Arthur stared at Liam as though waiting for him to agree and set them free. Liam, however, ran at the bars of the cell, hitting them with his hand and flew into a rage.

"Don't lie to me! Morgana is a seer, she _knows _things! You _will _tell me everything!" Liam had a mad look on his now reddened face as he tried to stop his breaths coming in such fast, violent gasps. He seemed to have regretted losing his temper and stepped away from the bars, turning his head away from them. After he had regained some composure Liam turned back to Arthur and said quietly,

"Don't think you can rely on Emrys coming to rescue you. Morgana has placed a spell on me so that no magic can be used within a mile of me without my consent." He smiled with glee as though he had just delivered some devastating news to the king. Arthur, however, was coming to the conclusion that Liam was insane.

"We'll begin your interrogation at dawn" Liam declared before sweeping from the building.

Merlin was in complete shock. This was all his fault. The worst thing was knowing he could stop all of this if he just confessed who he really was. Though then he and Arthur would probably just be killed by Morgana straight away. No, that was a really bad idea. At least he knew why his magic hadn't been working.

Arthur looked over at Merlin and saw the look of deep concentration on his face.

"Don't worry Merlin. I don't have any idea who this Emrys is either," Merlin gave Arthur a smile to try and convince him that that was actually what he was concentrating on.

"What will you do?" Merlin asked. Arthur shook his head.

"Well that man is obviously completely insane so we'll just have to bide our time until an opportunity presents itself," It was a pretty lousy plan, but that's really all they had been able to do since this whole fiasco started.

One of the guards near the fire, who could obviously hear all that the boys said, sent Arthur a glare. They weren't very talkative fellows. Arthur lowered his voice,

"I'm so sorry Merlin"

"What for?" Merlin asked, honestly perplexed.

"This is all my fault. I should never have been so selfish as to ask you to be bought with me."

"No Arthur. I'm happy I'm with you, how else can I protect you?" Arthur let out a small, fond chuckle at Merlin's persistent idea that he somehow protects him.

"No, you're right. I'm glad you're here too. This isn't either of our faults. This is all because of Emrys."

Merlin nodded in agreement and felt his insides burn with guilt

* * *

So many questions! Why did Liam agree to buy Merlin? What is Liam's relationship with Morgana if they're 'not in league'? Will they ever escape? Tune in next time! Lol

Again, thank you so much to everyone for favouriting, following and reviewing. You are the reason I keep writing! :)


	5. Day 1

Merlin spent a restless night as a result of his guilt. Arthur was more than likely going to be tortured as a result of his secrecy and Merlin didn't want to think about what would happen to him once they realised he really didn't know anything. Merlin was so worried about Arthur he never once stopped to wonder what plans Liam had in mind for him.

The next morning found Merlin and Arthur awaken stiff and sore from their many nights sleeping in uncomfortable situations. In their cell was nothing but a bucket to relieve themselves and some chains on the walls, nothing to make a comfortable bed. When it was clear that they were awake, one of the men who was watching them left the room. They were different men than when they had fallen asleep, they must have been taking shifts.

Not long after, Liam walked into the room with a skip in his step, like a child on Christmas morning. The man who had gone to alert him to his prisoners' wakefulness followed him back in holding a crossbow. He carefully trained it on Merlin as Liam began to talk.

"Little king, stay up against the back wall or _Merlin _will be shot down where he stands," Arthur shot Liam a filthy look but did as he was told. "Good puppy. Now Merlin, this man here is going to escort you up to the house. I would like you to do everything he says, okay?" He was so patronising Merlin hardly knew how to respond so he just nodded his head dumbly as the other man who had been in the room held onto the rope which was still tied around his hands from the previous day and led him out of the building.

"Where are you taking him?" Arthur demanded as soon as the last of bit of Merlin disappeared from sight.

"I hardly think that's any of your business. Now, why don't you come on over to this nice little table and have a drink with me." He motioned to the table near the fire where the guards had been keeping watch. The man with the crossbow now had it trained on Arthur unwaveringly. Arthur cautiously moved over to the table and sat down slowly, waiting for whatever Liam was going to throw at him next.

"You're right to be cautious," Liam confirmed, watching how Arthur was conducting himself. "I wouldn't trust me either." Silence filled the room for a moment as the two men glared at each other.

"I thought we were going to have a drink?" Arthur finally broke the thick air of tension.

"Quite right. Where are my manners?" Liam stood up and moved over to a table which was covered in a cloth. He swept the cloth off the table in the most overdramatised motion to reveal what was underneath. Mountains of fruit of every colour, which made Arthur's mouth begin to water instantly. He didn't even notice that there was a flagon of water at the side of the table from which Liam was filling two glasses to the brim. He sat one of the glasses in front of Arthur and started to casually sip from his own. Looking up, Liam pretended to look shocked and cried,

"I'm so sorry! I didn't realise that you might be hungry. Pity." He kept his eyes locked on Arthur's clearly enjoying the struggle he could see going on in their depths. Arthur was so incredibly hungry. Instead of focusing on his hunger, Arthur settled on politely drinking his water as though that was all he desired. However, with his hands tied he could no sooner drink from his glass as eat the mountains of fruit on the table. Arthur couldn't help but let out a huff of frustration at this.

"Okay, this is ridiculous. Just get on with whatever it is you are trying to do," Arthur demanded. Liam raised an eyebrow but didn't reprimand Arthur.

"You know what I want. The same thing I wanted from you yesterday. Where is Emrys?" Arthur stayed quiet for a while, not knowing how to answer the question without making things worse.

"Well?" Liam asked impatiently.

"I've already told you I don't know," Arthur decided to stick to his story, only to realise it wasn't one, it was the truth. A strange growl like noise started from within Liam's chest as part of his upper lip raised in frustration. He looked like a wolf.

"Do you care to rethink your answer? I'll allow you to feast on the delicious food behind me and I will ensure that you are escorted back to your kingdom in a manner that befits a king such as yourself. And to prove you can trust me," He rounded the table and cut Arthur's restraints, handing him the glass which had been sat in front of him. "There."

That was a critical mistake.

Arthur seized the opportunity, grabbing hold of Liam's head and bringing it smashing down onto the table. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him towards the door, he had to get to Merlin before Liam woke up. He flung open the door as he felt a sting in his calf. He looked down confusedly as he continued to limp from the building. He managed to spot an arrow protruding from his leg before he fell unconscious onto the grass.

* * *

The man who had been escorting Merlin led him through a door at the back of the house into a dark hallway and then immediately down some stairs. Under the house was, to put it nicely, a mess. Piles of chairs, tables and all kinds of odd things were covered in cobwebs, hardly leaving enough room to move beyond the entrance.

"Clean it," said the man, thrusting a broom into Merlin's bound hands. Merlin looked around at the chaos in disbelief and said,

"That's why he bought be? To clean?"

"No. Liam saw you back at Barabbas'. How disobedient and lively you were. He wants to, how shall I put this, _tame_ you," the guard said this with some kind of perverse pleasure; Liam sure knew how to pick his men.

"Tame me? By making me clean a room?" Merlin said somewhat sarcastically, making the guards eyes glitter.

"For starters," he threatened. Merlin looked around the room as he contemplated his options. This would no doubt take weeks to clean; he would be constantly separated from Arthur during the day while Liam did who knew what to him. No, Merlin decided. He would never serve these animals.

"Never," Merlin said softly, face strong with resolve.

"What did you say to me?" the guard said menacingly. Merlin turned to face the guard full in the eyes as he clarified,

"I will never serve anyone other than the king,"

"Oh really?" The guard snatched the broom out of Merlin's hands and raised it over his head before bringing it down with a crack over Merlin's head. Merlin was forced to the floor by the blow while the broom lay in two on the floor amidst splinters of wood. Merlin saw the man's feet near him yet again when the door to the basement flew open. Liam stood in the doorway fuming. He looked just as mad as he did the previous night when he had lost control.

"Neil!" the guard stopped in mid stride, frozen like a mildly amusing statue.

"Yes Liam?" He replied with reverence as he slowly lowered his other foot to the floor to gain a more respectable position.

"Stop. I need to vent my anger," Neil bowed his head and walked over to stand near the door as Liam stormed over to where Merlin lay on his stomach, with his head raised off the floor.

Without so much as a taunt Liam's foot moved with force towards Merlin's face, shattering his nose. The awful crack was swallowed by the dusty surrounds as blood spurted all over the floor and Liam's leather boot. Merlin's neck snapped backwards with the force, forcing him onto his back. Liam never faltered, not stopping to admire his handiwork or to feel remorse. He was running on pure pent up anger.

Liam next sent his foot flying into Merlin ribs, causing another crack to fill the room as more bones were broken. An unintentional cry of pain was forced from Merlin's lips as the air was forced from his lungs. Merlin could barely register what was happening; the pain was barely more than a vague feeling of pressure as the shock took over his body.

Liam, seemingly growing tired of beating a punching bag which wasn't complaining or fighting back, stepped back releasing a roar of frustration.

"Why must one purchase be off limits and the other an obliging victim?" He screamed, pulling at his hair like a madman. He turned away from both Merlin and Neil, breathing violently. When he turned around he had regained some composure.

"Neil, bring him back to his cage." Neil stepped forwards immediately, yanking Merlin up roughly, causing a huff to escape from his winded lungs and the pressure of his injuries to grow stronger. "If I can't hurt them directly then perhaps it's time to move to plan b."

Liam stalked ahead while Neil practically dragged Merlin back up the stairs and along the path back to Arthur.

* * *

When Arthur awoke his brain was moving so slowly he couldn't make sense of any of his thoughts. Mingled in there somewhere was a thought of pain and also a vague inkling of Merlin. He slowly realised that his eyes were closed, so with what seemed like an immense amount of effort he wrenched them open. The light stabbed at his eyes as he snapped them back shut, immediately regretting making the effort to open them.

His thoughts were starting to become more coherent and he suddenly remembered his escape attempt. His eyes snapped open yet again and this time Arthur put up with the pain the light caused his eyes. He blinked rapidly to clear the blurriness in his vision and slowly the shape of bars became clearer. He was back in the cage, he should have guessed. It was then that the thought of pain which had been circling on the edges of his mind came into focus and he gasped. His right calf was radiating with pain. He tried to look down at the injury, only to begin to wonder why he was standing up if had just been unconscious.

Looking around Arthur realised both his wrists were chained to the wall above his head. He couldn't feel them; obviously they had been up there quite a while, though that was probably a good thing. His feet were comfortably planted on the floor. He wouldn't be able to sit down but at least he wasn't dangling from his chains. His attention again returned to his leg where Arthur realised an arrow was protruding. Arthur instinctively flinched away from the sight but looked back again to assess the damage.

He had barely taken a second glimpse when the door to the building flew open, banging off the wall and swinging back closed with just as much force. Someone caught the door as they barged through. It was Liam. Arthur started to prepare himself for the abuse he was sure to endure for knocking the man unconscious when another figure followed Liam into the building. It was the other guard, the one who had left with Merlin. Arthur grew worried, wondering what they had done with his friend, when he realised Merlin was draped over the guards shoulder, unconscious.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Arthur shouted, taking in Merlin's bruised and bloodied face.

"He was disobedient and after what you did, I needed to take out my anger on _someone_," Liam explained as Merlin was unceremoniously hauled into the cell. Arthur wanted so much to get over to Merlin, to make sure he was alright. He pulled at his chains in desperation.

"Oh yeah," Liam piped up. "Can't leave you there now can I, not a king like you." He held up a key to show Arthur and tossed it over near Merlin's unconscious form. "When your friend awakes he can free you." Liam smiled at his own cruelty.

"I just wanted to alert you to the fact that I have changed strategies. Another reason I purchased your friend, other than the fun of breaking him, was that I thought he might be good leverage if you were uncooperative. Starting tomorrow I'll be killing two birds with one stone. I'll make you talk _and _break him at the same time. Sounds like fun to me!" Liam then swept from the room, having now satisfied his anger, leaving Arthur chained to the wall and Merlin sprawled unconscious on the cold stone floor.

* * *

I wanted to give a special thanks to everyone who has favourited, followed or reviewed. This chapter proved very difficult to put together and you gave me the motivation to stick to it. I hope the difficulty I had in writing the chapter doesn't show in the reading of it! :)


	6. Comfort With a Side of Lies

The first thing Merlin realised when he woke up was how difficult it was to breathe. He could only take little gasps of air through his mouth which barely filled his aching lungs.

"Merlin?" he recognised Arthur's voice and an agonised sigh of relief left his chest at the familiar sound. Merlin felt dizzy, even with his head laid on solid ground and his eyes shut tight. He opened them experimentally and everything swam around him. It felt absolutely terrible but Merlin had to see what sort of state Arthur was in after being left alone with Liam. Merlin lifted his head off the ground slightly and gradually the sight of Arthur chained to the wall swam across his blurred vision. He laid his head back down on the ground and saw something shimmer near his face. Feeling well and truly ill he closed his eyes again.

"Merlin? Can you hear me?" Arthur spoke again, concern radiating from his every syllable. Merlin managed to produce a noise from the back of his throat as he willed his head to stop spinning. Arthur remained quiet, knowing that Merlin wasn't in any condition to hold a conversation and definitely not to unlock his chains.

Arthur couldn't tell exactly what was wrong with Merlin but he definitely had a broken nose and from where Arthur was chained, looking down on Merlin's head, he could see blood and wooden splinters in Merlin's hair like a chair had been broken over it. Arthur could hear the difficulty Merlin was having breathing and guessed that on top of his broken nose he also had at least one broken rib. Merlin stayed on the ground, gasping for air, for another few minutes before suddenly starting to move, as though trying to stand.

"What are you doing?" Arthur questioned irritably, wanting Merlin to rest. Merlin didn't respond. Merlin picked up the key which was sitting in front of his face and started to drag himself towards the stone wall, groans escaping his throat with every movement. When he reached his destination he leaned his weight against the wall and slowly got to his feet, keeping his eyes closed. Merlin paused for a moment,

"Merlin?" Arthur asked for what felt like the hundredth time as Merlin stood with his eyes closed swaying dangerously. He stayed there breathing very deliberately for a few minutes before starting to edge himself along the wall towards Arthur. Arthur couldn't believe that despite all of Merlin's injuries he was still putting Arthur before himself.

As Arthur looked on incredulously Merlin barely noticed. He was placing all of his concentration on staying upright and trying to stop the world from spinning. Standing up had made his head start to pound in addition to his other problems and he was desperately trying not to throw up. He was finally within reach of one of Arthur's shackles. He fumbled with the key as he vaguely heard Arthur giving him words of encouragement. He closed his eyes while still trying to unlock Arthur, with his arm raised his blood pressure had dropped and he had to fight the urge to pass out for a few moments while his body adjusted. Finally he heard a click. He let out a painful breath of relief as he handed Arthur the key and slipped down the wall and onto the floor.

Arthur quickly unlocked his other shackle and swooped on Merlin, wanting to help relieve his friend's distress. Merlin was still conscious but had his eyes closed and was obviously in a lot of pain. Arthur registered somewhere in the back of his mind that his leg wound was crying out in pain but he never took his eyes off Merlin. Arthur didn't really know where to start in helping Merlin, but the most glaring thing to him was the blood smeared all over his face. Arthur got up and rushed over to where their bucket of drinking water stood, carrying it back over to Merlin. He carefully undid Merlin's neckerchief, making his friend screw up his face and let out a groan in the process. Arthur flinched at hurting his friend.

"I'm so sorry Merlin! Sorry, sorry, sorry," Arthur kept repeating the word the whole time he spent tending to Merlin. He dipped the fabric into the water and started to gently dab the blood off Merlin's face. When the blood was gone it revealed dark bruises around Merlin's eyes and nose and the extent of the swelling was more evident. Arthur didn't really feel as though he had actually helped Merlin in any way, but then a small,

"Thank you," came from his friend along with a weak smile. It broke Arthur's heart to see his best friend still trying to please him while he was in such a state.

"Don't talk," Arthur gave the words as an order, knowing how much it must have hurt Merlin to speak those two words. Arthur, knowing he couldn't do anything else for Merlin's broken nose, started to look at his head wound. There was a small bump, nothing too severe, but splinters were sticking out of Merlin's scalp. Arthur very carefully started to remove each of them, some of which were quite deeply embedded. Merlin stayed quiet the whole time, sometimes screwing up his face in discomfort but never once complaining.

Once Arthur had checked the extent of the bruising on Merlin's chest and made an educated guess that only one rib was broken he piped with false cheer,

"There, you should be right as rain now," Merlin opened his eyes and gave Arthur a look that showed he appreciated his friend's attempt at cheering him up. Merlin felt slightly better now, he had adjusted to his new limited form of breathing and his head had stopped spinning. With Arthur's help and a short return of his spinning head he was able to prop himself up against the wall and take in Arthur's leg injury.

"What happened?" Merlin quietly asked. Arthur gave Merlin a look which showed how annoyed he was at Merlin disobeying his order but answered,

"I tried to escape and the guard got me with his crossbow. The arrow must have been dipped in something because I passed out and the next thing I know I was back in here." Merlin gave Arthur a sympathetic look before saying,

"Give me your leg and that bucket," Merlin was used to bossing his master around. Arthur didn't really want Merlin working while he was still in so much pain but he was relieved that Merlin was feeling better, so he moved his leg and the bucket of water over to Merlin and braced himself. Sure enough the first thing Merlin did, without warning, was pull the arrow out of his leg in one swift movement. Arthur let out a yell but quickly regained his self-control and settled on expressing his pain through his sharp breaths.

"Sorry," Merlin echoed Arthur's word from before, but Merlin was obviously more used to hurting people in order to help them through his work with Gaius.

"S'okay," Arthur breathed out in one breath in an attempt to hide his pain. It didn't work. Merlin rolled his eyes slightly at Arthur still not wanting to appear weak. Merlin dabbed at the wound with his soaked neckerchief and then used it to bandage Arthur's leg.

"It's not too bad," Merlin said to a stunned Arthur.

"Not too bad!" Arthur replied disbelievingly.

"Well, they could have injured you a lot worse, or killed you. It looks like they tried their best not to injure you too badly," they exchanged dark knowing glances. They were going to hurt Merlin instead.

"Thank you Merlin," Arthur said, examining Merlin's expert bandaging, even with only a neckerchief to work with. Merlin didn't reply, he looked like he was about to fall asleep.

"Come here," Arthur ordered. Arthur propped himself against the wall with his good leg next to Merlin and gestured for Merlin to use it as a pillow. Merlin laid down as he was told and settled his head on Arthur's lap. Arthur seemed to have suddenly realised the closeness of the situation and quickly cut in,

"This is between us. No one else can know that a king was used as a pillow by a servant." Arthur declared in his pompous king voice. Merlin smiled a little as he looked at the two guards who had been watching their every move before drifting into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Both the boys spent a restless night with both their injuries and the growing dread as morning drew near of what Liam had in store for Merlin. The guards had replaced their drinking water after they had put so much blood in their last lot and they were both awake and sharing a drink when Liam walked in the next morning.

"Good morning," he said vaguely as he watched one of guards hurry over and train their crossbow on Merlin just as he had done the previous day. Liam unlocked the cell gate and grabbed Merlin by the scruff, pulling him out of the cell. Merlin stood as tall as his broken rib would allow him, never taking his eyes off Liam's and refusing to be bullied.

"I do hope you enjoyed the injuries I bestowed upon you yesterday," Liam taunted, eyeing Merlin's swollen nose and bruised eyes. Merlin remained quiet, not wanting to give Liam what he wanted.

"You're not going to talk to me? That's okay, I don't need information from you," Liam turned to give a look to Arthur while Merlin contemplated the irony of those words.

"So, little king, tell me where Emrys is and no more harm will come to your friend here," Arthur looked so torn, it killed Merlin a little. He had no information to save Merlin with, even if he wanted to.

"So be it," Liam looked almost happy that Arthur hadn't talked, like he had been looking forward to whatever it was he was about to do to Merlin. He pulled a knife out of the boot which was still stained with Merlin's blood while the other guard, Neil, came over and pushed Merlin into a chair. Neil started to untie Merlin's right shoe, completely perplexing Merlin, while Arthur had started to yell for Liam to stop. When Merlin's shoe had been removed Neil moved around to the back of the chair and held Merlin's shoulders, keeping him in place. As Liam started to kneel Merlin realised what was coming. He screwed up his eyes and looked away, not wanting to struggle for fear of losing more than just a toe. Merlin felt the cold steel touch his toe as Liam lined it up and then in one go Liam pushed down hard, sending the blade straight through flesh and bone, cutting off Merlin's smallest toe. Merlin couldn't help but yell as the pain started to pulse through his foot.

Liam picked up the toe and walked over to Arthur to give him a closer look.

"This is his smallest toe, but he has nine more, most of which are bigger and would take a bit more time and effort to remove. I can keep going and put your friend through more pain, leaving him unable to walk properly ever again, or you can tell me where Emrys is."

Arthur was thinking as fast as he possibly could, trying to find some way of stopping this torture. Something suddenly came to him and in his desperation he failed to consider the consequences.

"Okay! Okay, I'll tell you where to find Emrys" Arthur said, making Liam's face light up in triumph and Merlin's in shock. "He lives in a house on the northern outskirts of Nadir." Merlin realised what Arthur was doing and was momentarily relieved to be escaping imminent pain.

"Nadir?" Liam echoed thoughtfully. "I will go and investigate this _Nadir_ but I will tell you this. If I find out the information you have given me is false I may just slip some valuable information to the Lady Morgana; say, the location of some Camelot knights who are out in search of their king?" With that he stormed from the room, while the guards to threw a bleeding Merlin back into the cell with a dazed Arthur.

* * *

Dun dun dun! Lol, thank you everyone yet again for favouriting, reviewing and following, I know I say it every chapter but it really does keep me writing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)


	7. Funny Farm

The guards followed Liam out the door and locked it with a loud click which seemed to taunt the two boys. Arthur had ripped the sleeve off his shirt and quickly pressed it to Merlin's foot to try and stop the bleeding, making Merlin gasp with pain.

"Sorry," Arthur said automatically, focusing on stemming the bleeding. Merlin was shaking, probably with a mixture of pain and shock, but managed to stammer,

"You've been saying that a lot recently, haven't you?" before throwing up onto the stone floor. Arthur grimaced and Merlin misinterpreted it as disgust.

"Sorry, I'll clean it up," he promised.

"Stop trying to beat me Merlin. I will say sorry far more often than you," Arthur joked, accomplishing a weak smile from Merlin. After a small while the bleeding had slowed and Arthur clumsily managed to bandage Merlin's stump with his ripped sleeve.

"What do think Liam's going to do when he realises you lied?" Merlin asked tentatively, cautious to bring the subject back around to Emrys, to himself. Arthur's face darkened when he thought about the fact that he may have just placed all of his knights in mortal danger.

"Well, if we are where I think we are, Nadir is a good two days ride so we have about four days until he returns. Until then, hopefully we are able to recover a little bit and devise an escape plan," Arthur tried to sound calm, not wanting to alarm Merlin or appear scared. Merlin looked around the room, from the locked cage they were in, across to the small bolted window opposite, to the locked exit and gave Arthur a look that was close to pitying.

"I think that might take a small miracle," that was when a light suddenly came on in Merlin's head. Without Liam and his anti-magic shield, Merlin might finally be able to get them out of their prison. Silently he focused on the door of their cell and willed it to come off its hinges. He could feel his magic starting to build inside of him and then suddenly a shock of pain radiated through his entire body, making him convulse and scream in pain.

Arthur's eyes grew wide with shock and worry as he pushed both his hands onto Merlin's shoulders, trying to stop his convulsions.

"Merlin! What's wrong? What's happening?" Merlin wasn't capable of responding. Finally, Merlin's body stilled, his eyes watering and unfocused, his breaths coming in shuddering gasps.

"Merlin?" Arthur cautiously asked. Merlin didn't respond. He was awake, but he wasn't responding to anything Arthur said or did. Arthur carefully picked Merlin up off the cold stone floor and carried him over to the far wall, away from Merlin's vomit. As night fell, Arthur just cradled Merlin in his arms as, without guards to light the fire, they were plunged into pitch darkness.

* * *

Merlin's brain was a complete mess. He tried with all his energy to think clearly but his thoughts were all a confused jumble of nonsensical flashes as they chased each other through his mind before he had time to figure out what each one was. Triangles, Arthurs, curtains, Liams. Nothing which Merlin could make sense of or hold onto. He was so caught up in his overcrowded head he couldn't even consider where he was or what was happening.

* * *

The complete, almost tangible, blackness which surrounded Arthur felt as though it was suffocating his eyes. He could feel Merlin in his arms, hear his laboured breathing, but that was all. There was no light, no colour, no other sounds or stimuli of any kind. He tried to force his eyes open wider, hoping it would somehow help him to see but it was to no effect. There was no moon out tonight and Arthur felt strange, as though his brain was starving. To help fill the void Arthur started to hum, the noise sounded so loud and foreign he stopped instantly. Finally finding sleep, Arthur managed to escape his own brand of torture and slip into a land of his own, with colours and sound.

* * *

About midday the next day, Merlin finally stirred from his comatose like state. Arthur had carefully laid Merlin on the ground and, taking advantage of the daylight, was trying to decide how best to clean up Merlin's sick without wasting too much of their precious water. Merlin suddenly shot up, making himself cry out in pain, forgetting his injured rib. His eyes frantically darted around him, never settling anywhere. He quickly shuffled backwards and cowered against the wall, shutting his eyes again and rocking backwards and forwards.

"Merlin?" Arthur said cautiously. Merlin stopped rocking and slowly raised his head to look at Arthur, fear and uncertainty etched on his every feature. Seeing Merlin so confused and scared, echoing how Arthur himself was feeling, and not knowing why or how to help affected Arthur to his very core.

"Merlin, it's me, Arthur," he said quietly as he slowly started to inch towards Merlin. Merlin suddenly flinched backwards when Arthur got too near,

"It's okay," Arthur coaxed, "I want to help you," recognition suddenly dawned across Merlin's features as his face fell into a smile.

"Arthur!" Arthur's face also lit up as he beamed at his friend who had suddenly regained his senses.

"What happened to you?" Arthur asked confusedly as he moved faster towards his friend and sat next to him.

"You can never trust the door. The door is full of lies, lies, lies," Merlin quickly muttered, his head going round in circles as the repeated the last word. Arthur froze at Merlin's response, watching as his friend's head continued to roll in circles, a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" Arthur asked, fear lacing every word. Merlin looked over at Arthur and, seeing the worried look on Arthur's face, started to cry in earnest. Wails echoed off the walls and Merlin stamped his feet, his face in his hands. Arthur, at a complete loss as to why Merlin was suddenly acting like an escapee from an insane asylum, simply wrapped him arms around Merlin until he stopped crying and abruptly fell straight to sleep.

Arthur would never admit to anyone that while Merlin slept he let himself cry. Merlin seemed to have gone mad and he didn't even know why. It wasn't the torture; he had been fine after that. It was something else, whatever it was that had made him go into convulsions. Arthur felt so alone. Sure, Merlin was still there, but it wasn't really him and it was all his fault. He went over all the ways he could have avoided placing Merlin in this cell with him, and over all the things which Merlin had been put through because of him, and he cried until there were no more tears.

* * *

When Merlin awoke it was to a very apprehensive Arthur.

"Merlin?" he asked, not knowing what to expect. Merlin was confused and in pain.

"What happened?" He asked, sitting up carefully so as to not agitate his injuries. The last thing he remembered was trying to use his magic and the searing pain which followed.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Arthur breathed through his sigh of relief at having his friend back to normal.

"I don't know, I just felt pain and that was it," Merlin replied, conveniently leaving out the part where he had tried to use magic. Arthur puzzled this over while Merlin did his own puzzling.

He couldn't understand why he had reacted to trying to use magic like that. He thought that perhaps Liam was still too near when he had attempted it, but when he tried to do magic before there was no pain. Merlin considered for a brief moment attempting magic again to see what would happen, but he wasn't willing to rick it. He would rather get another toe cut off then go through that again.

As Merlin thought his situation over, his mind was gradually starting to lose focus. That same feeling of not being able to hold down a thought started to build again. Merlin fought against it but the harder he tried to hold onto a thought, the faster it slipped away.

Merlin started to hum tunelessly, swaying side to side. Snapped out of his reverie Arthur looked over at Merlin and felt his stomach drop. Sighing in defeat, Arthur just sat and watched Merlin, missing his friend every moment.

* * *

The next few days passed in a blur of caring for Merlin when he was insane, hiding from the real Merlin that he had actually gone mad and trying to not go insane like Merlin through the dark nights. Merlin was mostly calm, rocking backwards and forwards, but he sometimes got animated, even violent. At one point Merlin had started jumping up and down in one spot, making his stump start to bleed profusely. Arthur had tried to stop him but Merlin had punched Arthur in the face with surprising strength. Arthur had had to just let him go until he stopped and had trouble explaining to a sane Merlin why his injury had suddenly grown so much worse while he was just 'sleeping'.

Arthur hated to admit it, but he actually wanted Liam to come back. He thought that he might have some answers, but if not at least he might get some food. They wouldn't last much longer if they didn't get something to eat and he knew Liam didn't want him dead.

Thankfully, four days after leaving, Liam returned. Merlin was in one of his states of rocking backwards and forwards harmlessly when two of Liam's men came in and lit the fire. Forgetting what it felt like to be warm, Arthur relished the novel feeling of slowly warming up. One of the men threw two soft old apples into the cage, one of which Arthur ate with relish, the other he saved to give to Merlin when he came back to him. An hour later, Liam strolled through the door with a jeering smile on his face, which was specially meant for Arthur.

"Your men are dead," he said with pleasure, taking in every moment of Arthur's pain as though it were a drug.

"That's right. About twenty Camelot knights were killed in a tragic accident where Morgana slaughtered very single one of them," Arthur could hear his blood pounding through his ears as he took in the news, waiting for it all to be too much, but it wasn't. Not realising he could take anymore tragedy; it was a small victory to find that he could.

"You will pay for this," Arthur threatened with ferocity. Liam pretended to look offended, mocking the king.

"You brought this upon yourself little king. If you hadn't lied to me to save _Merlin_ here, I needn't have told Morgana about your little friends." At the mention of Merlin Liam had looked over to the boy cowering in the corner. A look of confusion danced across his face for a second, before joy settled on his features.

"I see your friend doesn't stand up to torture too well. Broken already, how sad," he gloated, clearly proud of what he had done.

"No, this isn't because of the torture." Arthur piped up, wanting to defend Merlin's dignity. "He was fine after that, this happened because of something else. He went into convulsions, I think he had some sort of fit," Arthur explained, wanting to wipe the self-satisfied smirk off Liam's face. Liam hadn't done this. At the news Liam's face fell into a picture of complete shock, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

"He has magic," he stated, causing Arthur to remember his conclusion that Liam was completely insane. Maybe there was something in the water? Arthur looked over at their bucket of water with the deepest suspicion.

"Neal!" Liam barked, never once taking his eyes of the rocking Merlin, "I want to take one of our prisoners out of the cage." Neal clumsily hurried over, loading the crossbow. Once he had it trained on Merlin, and Arthur had stood out of the way, Liam unlocked the cage and dragged Merlin out. When he had grabbed Merlin, Merlin had started to yell in fear as though he had no idea where he was or what was happening. Liam dragged Merlin over to where some chains were dangling from the roof and clasped them around Merlin's wrists. The chains were so high that Merlin's toes barely scraped the floor as he hung by his wrists, writhing in confusion and, undoubtedly, pain.

"You have magic," Liam restated, making Merlin stop wriggling to look up at him. His eyes couldn't seem to focus as his head unsteadily swayed on his straining shoulders. Arthur thought that the last thing a confused Merlin needed were these insane lies being thrown about.

"Please," Arthur requested, not really begging because surely anyone would agree with him, "he has been my servant for six years, I think I would know if he were a sorcerer."

While Arthur talked, Merlin started to wake-up. He quickly took in the fact that Liam was back and that he was hanging by his wrists.

"You're wrong," Liam countered, staring at Merlin like he was the greatest treasure known to man. "Merlin has magic and he is going to lead us straight to Emrys," Merlin suddenly wished he hadn't woken up at all.

* * *

Yes, another cliffhanger. I know, I'm evil but hope you like it! Thank you all again for all of the amazing reviews and for favouriting and following. Keeps me smiling which keeps me writing :)


	8. Horror Story

"What are you talking about?" Merlin asked with mock naivety.

"Your magic, of course," Liam replied with a manic smile.

"My _what?" _Merlin knew it wouldn't be a hard sell that Liam was actually insane.

"Stop playing games! You know what I'm talking about! Do you really think I would just leave you here for Emrys to come and save while my magic shield and I were away?" Liam really did look insane right now, so all Merlin had to do was look completely bewildered. He gave a look to Arthur and saw that he had bought the idea that Liam was off his rocker rather than believe Merlin had magic.

"I had the bars enchanted to that if anyone tried to use magic to escape, or to _help _anyone escape, they would have a shock run through them. Kind of like being struck by lightning. Then, whatever spell they were trying to cast would rebound onto them. For example, if one tried to break the bars their leg might break. I wonder what you were trying to do that made you go insane." Liam trailed off into thoughtful silence while Merlin was honestly baffled now. Since when was he insane? He looked over to Arthur to share another bewildered look but was disconcerted when he saw Arthur looking at him with guilt plastered all over his face.

Arthur could barely stand to look at the look of complete confusion on his friend's face. First of all Liam had concocted some cock and bull story about Merlin being a sorcerer but then he had hit the nail on the head when he had finally let Merlin in on the fact that he had gone insane. Arthur could only imagine how hurt and confused Merlin must be right now. Imagine finding out you were actually mad.

"Now that we've established that you _must _ be a sorcerer, we can move on to more pressing matters; like the location of Emrys," Arthur couldn't believe what was happening, this man actually thought that _Merlin _had magic and was somehow connected to this _Emrys_.

"You can't be serious!" Arthur shouted, making Liam take his eyes off Merlin for the first time in what seemed like eternity. "If Merlin is who you said he is, wouldn't he have told you sooner so that we weren't stuck in this place with him missing a toe?" This seemed to stump Liam for a while, until he exclaimed,

"How am I to know the mind of a mad sorcerer?" With that, he pulled out the same knife he had used to cut off Merlin's toe from the same boot he had used to break his nose, and held it up to Merlin's throat.

"Tell me where Emrys is," Liam ordered, his eyes glinting madly from the reflected light off the knife.

"I don't know," Merlin said with so much authority and dignity that Arthur couldn't help but be overwhelmed by pride at his friend's bravery.

Liam's face had darkened at this. He ripped off Merlin's tattered top, revealing his bruised and protruding ribs, and started to very slowly carve lines into the flesh on Merlin's chest. The blood dripped down Merlin's pale skin while Merlin tried to suppress any noises from escaping his throat or his body from flinching in pain. Arthur watch on in horrified silence, knowing there was nothing he could do for his friend, knowing how much pain he must be in despite his show of bravery. When Liam had carved into Merlin's chest to the extent that his whole torso was dripping in blood, he stopped.

"Tell me where Emrys is," he said again. Merlin just glared back at Liam.

"Fine. Neal, get me the cat-o-nine-tails,"

"No!" Arthur screamed fruitlessly. Liam was grinning with some sort of dark humour, even though he was clearly angry. While he was waiting he wiped the blood from the dagger across each of Merlin's cheeks, making small cuts where the knife's edges touched his skin. Suddenly, Liam grabbed Merlin's cut torso and pulled down hard, causing a nauseating pop to fill the room as Merlin's shoulders were both horrendously dislocated. Merlin screamed out loud this time, Arthur realised he was screaming as well.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Arthur called out to Liam who only gave Arthur the briefest of glances before turning back to admire his handiwork. Arthur studied Merlin and knew he would be in so much pain it was difficult to comprehend. Hanging by his wrists with both his shoulders dislocated, on top of everything else, was mind-blowing and now he was going to be whipped. Arthur felt sick to his stomach, and being a knight he had seen his fair share of horrors.

Neal handed the whip to Liam with slight hesitation, even he thought this was too far. Liam circled Merlin so that he stood at his back, before bringing down the whip with everything he had. Merlin let out a gut wrenching scream, which Arthur was sure would haunt him until his dying day. It seemed to echo in Arthur's head long after it had stopped. Blood and flesh were ripped from Merlin, splattering over Liam's smiling face.

"TELL ME!" Liam screamed. He was now completely deranged and Arthur thought this couldn't get any scarier until laughter started to fill the room. Merlin's laughter. Merlin, covered in his own blood and hanging from the ceiling, was laughing like a mad man; which, Arthur reminded himself, he was. Liam faltered; he didn't understand what was happening. He liked causing pain, not laughter.

"Why are you _laughing_?" Liam screamed. Merlin didn't respond, he just kept cackling madly. Liam looked just as confused as Merlin had done when he had been told he was insane.

"Where's Emrys?" Liam asked in what seemed like a desperate attempt to keep himself in control of the situation.

"Inside. Inside. Inside." Merlin stopped laughing to repeat the word over and over. Arthur could barely take in what was happening, it was too surreal.

"Inside?" Liam asked, trying to make reason out of a mad man's insanity. Merlin had started to resume his head rolling, which was the very picture of insanity, and Liam decided that there was no way to get a reasonable answer out of someone who had gone completely mad. He unchained Merlin from the roof, making him let out a howl of pain and pass out. Arthur was quite grateful for this as it meant Merlin was no longer in any pain. Merlin was thrown back in with Arthur, who rushed over to help him. After Liam had locked them back up with his customary bang, he said with displeasure,

"It's quite clear neither of you know anything about Emrys. I will just have to go with the less profitable option of handing you over to the Lady Morgana without that information. She will be here in a few hours. I'd make my peace if I were you." He then turned to storm out of the room, something which became less intimidating and more amusing each time he did it.

Arthur looked down at his barely recognisable friend. He was covered in blood and what you could see of him was so skinny that it barely seemed possible. He looked down at his own wrists and realised that he was probably that skinny too. Arthur first decided to pop Merlin's shoulders back into place while he was unconscious, a feat easier said than done. While Arthur had managed the first one without a hitch, after pushing the second shoulder back into place Merlin woke up, screaming. He was inconsolable, screaming and yelling, confused and scared. Arthur tried to comfort him and lucky for him after only a minute or so Merlin fell back into unconsciousness.

Arthur then cleaned up the blood on Merlin's front, finding that despite the total covering of blood, only Merlin's chest had knife wounds and the knife didn't seem to have punctured a lung. The wounds continued to bleed, but with no way to stop it all Arthur could do was try and keep it clean. With that small triumph, Arthur moved around to fix up Merlin's back. There was only one wound, but it covered the entire length of Merlin's back, down to his backside. His whole back was covered in spattered blood and flesh and after Arthur had cleaned away as much blood as he could he found an awful looking jagged wound, with chunks of flesh missing along its length. It also continued to bleed and, deciding that this wound was worse than those on his front, Arthur removed his shirt and held it to Merlin's back. Arthur knew deep down that his attempts were fruitless. If Merlin even managed to survive until Morgana arrived he would be killed anyway. A part of Arthur felt guilty and selfish for trying to keep Merlin alive, it would have been a mercy to let him slip away, but Arthur needed him.

* * *

Merlin awoke yet again a while later. He let out a small groan but didn't seem capable of doing anything else. Arthur tried to talk to him, to ask him if he was alright, but Merlin wasn't there. It was that strange Merlin Arthur had grown to put up with while it inhabited his friend. He couldn't seem to let himself think of this crazy Merlin as the same person who was his best friend. Arthur tried to pull his shirt off Merlin's wound, but the injury had started to heal to the fabric. Not wanting Merlin to bleed anymore, Arthur just left it there and recleaned the wounds on Merlin's front.

* * *

When Morgana arrived a few hours later, Merlin was awake and back to his normal self, lying still on his side, unmoved since he was first thrown back into the cell. Morgana took in the state of Merlin with a small smile but her eyes invariably met Arthur's.

"My dear brother, how nice to see you again," she was taking in the famished appearance of Arthur while Liam sauntered into the room.

"How long have you had them for exactly?" she asked accusingly.

"Just got them in here this morning," Liam lied with ease. Suddenly he was flung against the wall, held there by Morgana's magic.

"Liar," she stated, she knew.

"Please! My Lady, I wanted to try and extract any information they may have had about Emrys. I had heard rumours about your predictions about Emrys and Arthur. I knew you were offering a reward for anyone who turned Arthur over to you. I thought if I could provide you with the location of Emrys _and _Arthur then I would be richly rewarded." He looked at Morgana imploringly.

"You were wrong," she said calmly moving her hand as though to break his neck.

"Wait! The boy, Merlin, he has magic!" Morgana's eyes rounded at this ridiculous information as she snapped Liam's neck. Any relief Arthur felt at Liam's death was immediately quashed by his and Merlin's imminent and unavoidable deaths. Morgana had returned her attention to her brother,

"I suppose you know what happens how, don't you? I shall kill you, no wait, I'll kill Merlin first, then I will parade your body through Camelot as I murder every man, woman and child who ever declared allegiance to you. Of course I won't kill dear Guinevere until she has watched everyone else perish,"

While Morgana was rambling on about her evil schemes Merlin was becoming more and more angry. Anger as he had never known before was pulsing through his veins. His magic, which had been unrestricted since Liam's death, was building inside of him. Suddenly Merlin's magic quite literally exploded. A huge bang, which blasted everyone off their feet, blew up. Half the building nearest the boys was completely obliterated. Morgana and the two guards were unconscious or dead, the boys didn't know. Arthur, who was miraculously not hurt, took the opportunity to grab Merlin, who luckily was also not hurt, and make a run for it, Merlin safe in his arms.

Arthur could not believe their luck. Imagine Morgana's evil, unstable magic turning against her at a time like that! Merlin on the other had gone into such a state of complete shock at the fact he had just exposed his magic to _both _Arthur and Morgana that he barely felt his wounds ripping and pulling as Arthur carried him away from their prison at a run.

As Morgana came to, her magic propelling the debris off her body, she couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. Liam was right, Merlin had magic, but there was something else. No ordinary sorcerer could produce that much magic without casting some dark and complicated old magic and yet Merlin had done it without batting an eyelid. The conclusion that followed felt to Morgana as though she had always known, that it was fate.

Merlin was Emrys.

* * *

Shock! Horror! Thank you all again for your amazing reviews and for favouriting and following. I hope you liked this chapter too :)


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